Dear Jake,
I have decided that this is the last month that I am going to write individual letters to you and Max. I just cannot keep up with it anymore. Even though I am not going to write 2 individual letters, I am still going to write a monthly letter that will be to both you and Max. I am almost half way through my masters program, so this time next year I should be done. I’ve really enjoyed the classes so far and I am learning a lot. You would think that staying home with you and Max I would have time to work on my class during the day, but that is just not happening. I pretty much have to wait to work on my class while you and Max are asleep because the two of you will just not leave me alone long enough to get anything done. You always want to play with my highlighter or flip through my books or bang on my computer, I pretty much have to hide all of my stuff from you because you are drawn to it like a bug to light.
So you and Max have been doing a lot of coloring lately since I got you this little plastic lego table that also has a hard cover. You just seem so grown up for such a little guy because you pretty much do whatever Max does. Speaking of growing up, I still cannot believe that you are already in a toddler bed. About a month ago I found out that our crib had been recalled. After looking further into it, I also found out the manufacturing company was out of business so in order to be refunded I had to take the crib back to where I got it, which was Target. Amazingly enough, all I had to do was bring the crib in to get refunded, despite the fact that it was three years old and had teeth marks in it. I almost peed my self when they told me I was getting $270 back. For a 3 year old crib, WITH teeth marks. They asked me if I would like the money on a gift card, which would have been fine, but I had found a bunk bed set online at Walmart.com, so I asked for cash. That was all it took for the girl to hand me $270 IN CASH, for a 3 year old crib, with TEETH MARKS!!! Can you tell how excited I am?
Needless to say, I wasn’t planning on putting you in a toddler bed at 14 months old, but it just seemed stupid to buy another crib when we aren’t going to have any more babies. The plan has always been that you will get Max’s car bed and then we would buy bunk beds to go in Max’s room for when you are a little older. I found bunk beds that have a full size bed on the bottom and a twin on the top, they can also be 2 separate beds. We decided to put the twin bed together for Max, since he will be the one sleeping on the top bunk. We left the full size bed in the box so that we can save it for when you get a little older. I really want you to get to use the Lightening McQueen bed for at least a year or two. The day we took the crib back was the day Daddy put Max’s bed together, so when nap time rolled around we had already put the car bed in your room and we just set the pack-n-play up for you to sleep in. Trying to have you and Max nap in the same room together didn’t work out so well. We kept hearing you two laugh and when we heard a bang Daddy came in to see what was going on. I guess you two thought it would be fun to throw your stuffed animals at each other, so Daddy took them away and threatened the two of you and told you to go to sleep. An hour and a half later Jake was still giggling and we knew you were both STILL awake. By that time Max’s bed had been put together so we just put him in his room and you both finally went to sleep. That night I decided we would just let you sleep in the toddler bed and see what happens, we did leave the pack-n-play set up in your room just in case. To my surprise you did great and it has been no big deal at all. I just couldn’t believe how smooth the transition went, and I am still amazed that you are not getting out of bed!
We’ve had a lot of birthday celebrations in the past few months, including Papa’s, Nona’s, Emery’s, and countless more in the near future. You had a lot of fun at Emery’s birthday party, and you and Max were so excited when you got balloons at Razoo’s when we had Nona’s birthday dinner there. Max is really getting excited about his birthday party, and as long as there’s cake I know you will have fun.
Max has loved books since he was about a year old, and you are following right in his footsteps. Almost every morning you and Max will drag books onto the couch and just sit and look at them, Max will sometimes “read” them to you. You really look forward to us reading books to you before bedtime and you will point things out and try to repeat what we say. I really think your vocabulary is growing faster everyday. You say ball, dog, blankie, baby, shoes, book, fish, cup, bye-bye, hi, night-night, bite, cheese, chips, juice, and probably more that I am forgetting. Your most common word is still “mama”, but sometimes you will call whoever is taking care of you mama. You are such a goof.
You are getting so big. At your 15 month check up you were in the 90% for height and around 75% for weight. You have big wide bricks for feet, and you are quickly growing into Max’s old clothes and shoes. You may even catch up with him before too long, I kind of think you are going to be bigger than him. You had a little virus last week and you were being clingy and you wanted to be held. I hated that you were sick, but I sure did take advantage of all the cuddle time. Max was so sweet to you and kept asking you if you felt better, I think he was getting lonely playing by himself. He even got on the couch and asked me if you could sit in his lap. You two are so precious, well, most of the time.
So the other day Nona was watching you and Max while I went to a doctor’s appointment. You were playing with something and when Max came and took it away for you, you got so mad that you wound up and slapped the back of his head with all your might. Nona told me that she couldn’t help but laugh, she said the look on your face was priceless. Apparently it shocked Max and he just turned to Nona and said, “Jake hit me in the HEAD!” I guess Nona’s laughter was contagious because she said Max started laughing and then you started laughing, which I guess egged you on to do it AGAIN. Uh-oh, we’ve created a monster.
You and Max are both good eaters, but I always feed you strategically. For example, you both eat a sandwich for lunch almost every day along with some Baked Lays and fruit. I don’t let you even SEE the chips or fruit until you’ve eaten the majority of your sandwich because then you won’t eat it. So you pretty much have the routine down and you have started to just whine when I give you your sandwich and not eat it and then say “chip”. Yeah right, buddy! That’s not happening! So eventually, after about 10 minutes of fussing you finally ate your sandwich and then got your chips and fruit. You can’t trick Mama, you little booger! You and Max have learned to eat what we give you because we aren’t going to give you something else. If you end up not eating your food at the table, then we will put it on a plate in the living room so you can take bites while you are playing, it ALWAYS works. The thing is, eventually you get hungry, and when you don’t have a choice of something else, you will eat what we give you. Max did convince me to make cupcakes this week so we just let you have at it. You seemed to really enjoy it, but it’s hard to tell.
We’ve been taking advantage of our zoo pass this month and you are really enjoying it. You LOVE animals and you are so fascinated with all the animals we see at the zoo. You have branched out by calling all birds “duck” all furry animals are still referred to as “dog” and anything that swims in water is a “fish”. For some reason you have taken a real liking to penguins. It all started at Nona’s house. She has a little stuffed penguin that has kind of a leathery nose and you’ve always enjoyed chewing on it and you always go find it when we go over there. We also have a penguin calendar on the side of our refrigerator and you always point to it and smile. You are trying to say “penguin” but it usually comes out as “peegwee”. The other day when we went to the zoo we went to see the penguins first and you were totally enamored watching them swim. One penguin just kept swimming back in forth right in front of the glass where you and Max were standing. As we were leaving the zoo we decided to look in the gift shop and find you a penguin, we ended up getting one on a stick. I know right, a penguin on a stick? Basically it has a little harness you can put on your penguin that attaches to a stick so you can take your penguin for a walk, absurd I know. Of course you love it and you drag him around the house, or you take him off the stick and then use it as a weapon. So of course Max wanted one too and picked out an elephant, even more absurd than a penguin on a stick, I know. So this last time we went to the zoo we rode the train and you and Max rode on the carousel. You were obviously thrilled.
You randomly got a fever last Saturday and I kind of thought you were just cutting the rest of your canines. You already cut the bottom two, but the top haven’t come all the way through yet. You wouldn’t really eat anything and you just wanted to suck your thumb, hold your blankie, and sit in my lap. Your fever ended up getting up to 103, and I knew something else was going on besides teething. A day later you seemed fine except that you got a rash over your whole body. Thankfully you had your 15 month check up the next day and I was glad because I had no idea what to do about the rash. Your appointment went well, you are growing like a weed, so far you weigh about the same as Max did at your age, 25 pounds, and you are a little tall than he was, 32.5 inches. The doctor told me that your rash was just viral and would go away on its own, and then you got two shots. Nona told me that it sounded like you had 5ths, and I think that was it because Max pretty much got it right after you. You both are fine now and the rash is gone. I hate it when you and Max are sick, but I must admit, I do really enjoy the cuddle time!
It’s been a busy but fun month. This week we are headed to Oklahoma for a night and then on to the Springfield meeting in Missouri. We are excited to be going and I think you and Max are at a good age to go. We will be totally off “schedule” and staying up late, but it’s going to be a lot of fun and I’m excited to hear some good preaching and see old friends. I’m sure you and Max are going to make lots of new friends and I know you will both enjoy the beautiful singing!
Love,
Mama
PS) You do the silliest things and I am trying to get it all on video, you know, for future use…
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